1 Corinthians 15:42-43 (NKJV) So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.

Resurrection Confidence: Sown in Weakness, Raised in Power!

I’m amazed at the frailty of life. Just this past weekend I held a newborn again and was reminded of how small and helpless they really are. Just this past week I also held the hand of a ninety-eight year old who maybe even has less strength than that infant.

 

David wrote in Psalm 39:4, "LORD, make me  to know my end, And what is the measure of my days, That I may know how frail I am." The bookends of our lives show the frailty of this short life here on earth. And yet, how often do we see friends and loved ones taken from this world "before their time" when they are still in the prime of life? We are painfully reminded of what getting old feels like, as our body wears out and our weakness is felt in age or illness. These weaknesses are constant reminders of what Paul reminded the Christians in Corinth about our bodies being "sown in weakness." These weaknesses are a constant reminder that we "walk in the valley of the shadow of death" (Psalm 23).

 

And yet, the Holy Spirit reminds us that we do not need to fear or loathe these weaknesses. We do not even need to fear death! This mortal, aging, weak body has a destiny planned by Christ through the resurrection from the dead. Though we are "sown in weakness," that is by sinful, mortal parents, we have the promise of our Savior that we will be "raised in power!" Jesus' glorious promise to you and me is "Because I live, you will live also" (John 14:19)!

 

This gives us the day to day confidence that though we have been and will be weak while on our journey here on this earth, the time will soon come when we will walk and run with our Lord Jesus and all other believes in heaven forever! Paul writes later on in this powerful chapter, "For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality" (1 Corinthians 15:53). The Word of God is what gives us this confidence in our resurrection. My body that has been sown in frailty and weakness, I will be raised in power, in glory, in Christ. Death therefore has lost its power and grip on me because of Christ's resurrection!